How it works

Before you submit

Preparation makes the later stages faster.

1. Settle the award and category

   The finder or the industry brief gets you to a category whose definition matches the strongest evidence.

2. Decide who is nominated

   Organisation, person or both — Diamond covers two programmes with one evidence pack.

3. Gather the evidence

   Profile; performance over a defined period, indexed if confidential; customer or guest data; certifications; dated milestones; documents.

4. Clear the numbers

   Agree internally what can be disclosed and how — regional headquarters and family businesses in particular should settle indexed disclosure before submitting.

5. Submit

   Minutes on the nomination page; the awards team then contacts you to complete the profile.

After you submit — the published stages

The same stages apply to every programme in the network.

1. New nomination

   The nomination is received and registered against the relevant award programme.

2. Profile completion

   The nominee profile and required information are completed.

3. Team approval

   Eligibility and profile suitability are reviewed.

4. Final jury data

   Additional information required for evaluation is collected.

5. Jury / management review

   The nomination is evaluated against the applicable criteria.

6. Finalist

   Eligible strong nominations may progress to the finalist stage.

7. Winner or closed

   A finalist may be assigned an appropriate winning category, or the nomination is closed with a reason.

2026 timeline

Published dates for the 2026 cycle:

1. May 2026Nominations open

   The 2026 nomination window opens to eligible companies and leaders worldwide.

2. 30 July 2026Early window closes

   Last date for early-entry submissions.

3. 15 September 2026Nominations close

   Final published deadline for all 2026 entries.

4. 3rd–4th week of September 2026Jury review

   Independent jury / management evaluation of every eligible nomination.

5. October 2026Shortlist (internal)

   Finalists are confirmed and winners notified privately.

6. 14 November 2026Gala ceremony — winners announced

   Winners revealed and celebrated at the annual gala in Dubai.

The programmes note that nominations are limited and allocated first-come, first-served.

What does not influence the outcome

• Nomination payment or package level
• Winner package purchase
• Gala ticket purchase or attendance
• Sponsorship or advertising
• Commercial relationship with the network
• Public or social-media voting — not used